


Remember, Reminder

by WolfVenom



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst, Bruce Wayne is a Good Dad, Drabble, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Injury, Kid Fic, Kid Jason, Magic, Protective Ace, batfamily, crackfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-03 13:36:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13342350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfVenom/pseuds/WolfVenom
Summary: Jason, but like small.





	Remember, Reminder

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cheese_kun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheese_kun/gifts).



> here kinko come and get it

“Zatanna, I am begging you. I can't coddle a five year old toddler for the next two days.”

 

Bruce growled into the communicator, ignoring the loud scuffle going on at the other end as he radioed in the magician. 

 

She shouted then seemed to take a breath, “Listen, Batman, it's not my spell anymore! Wait for it to wear off or risk something worse happening,” she spat out a mumble of words and someone on her line croaked, “next time keep their paws off my stuff when I leave it over there!” 

 

The comms went dead. 

 

A shout, and Bruce tossed the thing to the ground, frustrated as all hell. It didn't last long. Suddenly the kid was there, grabbing the device and stuffing it in his mouth as he ran away to the bat wing, laughing all the way. 

 

“Jason! Take that out now.” Bruce sprinted after the boy and scooped him up before he made it into the cockpit, prying open his jaws and working his fingers against chomping teeth to pry the earpiece out before Jason choked. He shrieked and snapped at Bruce’s hand as he yanked it away, leaving sizeable red dents against flesh. 

 

“I'll eat whatever I want! You're not the bosses of me!” Jason guffawed, wriggling in Bruce’s grip. Missing his baby teeth, his words were slurred and lisped. 

 

Jason grabbed ahold of the cowl slung around his neck and tugged hard enough to strangle, flinging around and successfully dropping down to flee. Giving another snarl of frustration, Bruce took off after the boy and shouted for Alfred. 

 

Jason was only stopped when his favourite banana waffles were on the line. 

  
  


-

 

There were five thugs total, tied around a pipe connected to the ceiling in a clump. All battered and bruised, they glared up at the Bat as he tore off their masks and got to work, hounding them each for information before the cops showed up. 

 

“Who hired you to steal the weapons cache?” 

 

“I'm tellin’ ya Batsy, I ain't gonna say nothin’ ‘s long as I still breathe!” 

 

“I can fix that for you if you don't want to cooperate…” Batman leaned forward and brandished his fist, preparing to strike the crook right in the jaw when--

 

“Da, Da!!” A sharp pull on his cape. Bruce hissed, but turned around to face Jason as he whipped out a piece of paper. 

 

“Son, dad’s working, how did you even get out of the car--” Jason thrusted his picture into his hands, “--Oh wow, Jay, you made this? Well done,” he kneeled and ruffled the kid’s hair, ignoring the dumbfounded noises of the criminals behind him. “why don't you go back to the bat mobile and pin it on the dash?” 

 

“Yeah, okay!!” Jason giggled and scampered away once more, disappearing out the door. Bruce cracked his neck and turned back around. 

 

“Now, which one of you wanted your face reconstructed?” 

  
  


-

  
  


By dawn Jason had been knocked out cold by a night of running around, catching bad guys and drawing dogs. Bruce had him swaddled against his back by folding his cape up and over his shoulders, settling the little snoring bundle in the pocket it made. He had a few more errands to run before returning back to the manor; not to mention getting ready for a meeting by noon, so he hefted Jason more securely and grappled his way down to the central park. 

 

Before he approached the police station, he noticed a woman curled up outside the building, wrapped in coats and blankets. A rise in the cloth shuffled, and Bruce noticed she carried a baby to her chest, protecting her child against the frosty chill of morning. 

 

Bruce pursed his lips, feeling a tug in his breast as his heart lurched. No one noticed him, but he felt like everyone in Gotham was watching him quietly break inside. Jason shifted softly against his shoulder and Bruce pulled the cape tighter, ensuring his head was covered by the material. 

 

And Jason… Orphan child of a broke family, an addict mother who cared not and an abusive father… 

 

Batman swept up the GCPD and surveyed the brightening city. In just a few minutes he pulled up the apartment number, and case file. In just a few  _ hours _ , the killer was apprehended and a stack of cash was placed on the ottoman of the apartment. 

 

The funeral costs for the woman's husband was payed off, in full. She moved downtown and Bruce Wayne offered her a job and daycare payment. 

 

Jason gazed into the distance with an odd pensiveness. The boy looked up at Bruce from his spot on the kitchen counter, “...thank you, da…”

  
  


-

  
  


At his meeting, Bruce dragged Jason along with him and shut up his whining with a mug of hot cocoa. He sat on the floor sipping his drink, dressed in his little suit, and had one hand wrapped around Bruce’s leg at all times. 

 

The board stared at him oddly, Lucius just subtly grinning to himself at Bruce’s left. 

 

“What I am proposing is an increase in fundraising towards Gotham’s homeless and unemployed. We have numerous positions available, so present the notion as soon as you can and we’ll go public by next week. Any objections?” Bruce said to the crowd, running his eyes across each member intuitively. 

 

None seemed to have an opposing word, so Bruce excused the meeting and swiped Jason up from the ground, heading out towards his office. 

 

Alfred was kind enough to pull out an old jigsaw puzzle and let Jason take it to Wayne Enterprises. He worked on it quietly while Bruce wrote up his statement at his desk. The phone rang. 

 

“ _ Mister Wayne, there's a reporter here from the Daily Planet requesting an interview on the newest bill.”  _ Samantha droned. Bruce sighed and got up. 

 

“Be right there,” he approached the door, “stay here, Jason. I'll be back soon.”

  
  


Lois ensured him she had the most pristine puff piece in store for his recent public support of the less fortunate. His thanks was insurmountable, and he gave her a firm hug before she packed up and left. 

 

The alarms went off and Bruce couldn't get back to the top floor fast enough. 

  
  


They had Jason by the scruff of his neck, armoured and masked. Bruce saw his fright and got to work. 

 

They ordered him down, approached with zip ties and got ready to announce a hostage situation. There were no cameras in his office. He let go. 

 

Jason started crying halfway through the ordeal and Bruce took all the thugs down within minutes. His priority was Jason, sacrificing agility for brute strength in order to free him from gunpoint. Samantha arrived with police after all of them were down. 

 

Bruce was sitting on the floor, grasping Jason tightly to his chest as the child cried and tried to wipe away all the blood on Bruce’s suit. 

  
  


-

  
  


Alfred, Jason, and Cass stayed with him at the hospital for the duration of the surgery. Bruce demanded no anaesthesia and bounced Jason on his knee as the doctor removed a bullet from his back and stitched up the wounds littered there. 

 

It hurt like a  _ bitch _ , but he gripped through it and talked to Jason calmly as the boy watched with watery eyes as she ran needle through flesh. 

 

“Very well done, Master Bruce. The good commissioner has notified me of the containment of the delinquents and I have gone over future security checks with mister Fox.” Alfred noted, standing politely besides Cass while Bruce shook off the local anaesthetic with Jason in his lap. 

 

Bruce grunted, “they shouldn't have even gotten in in the first place. I would've been fine if Jason wasn't involved.”

 

Alfred nodded respectfully, and checked Bruce out of the hospital. 

 

Bruce played rock paper scissors with Jason in the back seat, letting him win every match. By the time Bruce could lay down on the couch at home, Jason began sniffling again and Bruce settled him on the cushion besides him. 

 

“Come here, Jay,” Bruce turned at the waist and lifted his shirt and hoodie, showing Jason the heated injuries, “it's just another brush stroke, son. Another reminder that I love you.” 

 

Jason ran his tiny hands over the jagged stitches and his sobbing slowly abated. 

 

“D-do they hurt?” Jason squeaked. 

 

Bruce chuckled, “No, kiddo. I'd much rather suffer some scars on my body than a scar on my heart. You're much more important to me...”

 

Jason had managed to wriggle under his hoodie and pass out on his stomach, his feet poking out under the hem and his hair protruding from the neck. 

 

Bruce followed him soon after. 

  
  


-

  
  


By dinner time, Jason had effectively monopolized Ace. She followed him at the hip all around the manor, and Bruce took to tying them together with a rope, knowing Ace would listen to ‘come here’ when Jason did not. She became his pillow, his garbage can, his butler, his tissue box, his everything. 

 

Ace ran to get Bruce whenever Jason asked, and vice versa. Her loyalty was unmatched. 

 

They watched  _ National Treasure  _ on the television, nibbling absentmindedly. Jason gave Ace more than her share of chicken and she accepted the offerings gratefully, snuggled between Bruce and his ward on the couch. They both leeched her immense warmth like a couple of overgrown snakes. She sure loved her boys. 

  
  


-

  
  


Jason left the day after, twenty five once more. 

 

He remembered nothing. 

 

Bruce didn't know if that hurt more than his back or not. 

 

But, Batman always did prefer a hurting body over a hurting heart. You can always bandage a scratch; you can't bandage grief. 

  
  
  


-

 

Fin. 

**Author's Note:**

> unbeta'd
> 
> picture scene inspired by that vine.


End file.
